"What Kind of Bag Are You Carrying?"

I think every once and a while we all have to go from one place in our lives to another. It's almost like every so often we have to pack our bags and move to a new temporary home. With each move each new home remains a home for a shorter and shorter period of time. But I believe that that is because with each move, we should be packing lighter and lighter bags.

Many of us have a tendency to pack so much luggage that we crowd our home and have to move to another temporary shelter. Depending on whether we pack all that stuff from our last home and put it in our new home will determine how long we stay there and how comfortable we will be able to live. I know I don't want to have to come home to a room with baggage packed to the ceiling to the point where I can't even come through the door and go to bed at night.

Sometimes we may take some of those bags with us wherever we go: school, work, church, parties, etc. How uncomfortable is that? But get this...some of us will take those bags with us and then come back home with those and more that we picked up along the way. Man! Talk about crowded living! But hey, that's how some of us live and some of us continue to live that way for quite some time until we get to our breaking point where we have to ask ourselves, "Do I really need all this stuff?"

I feel that whether you're carrying a garbage bag, a travel bag, a plastic bag, a paper bag, or even a Gucci bag, you need to be mindful of what type of baggage you're carrying with you. Do you have too much? Not enough? Depending on what you're carrying just may determine how far you can travel to a new home and also how comfortable you will live there. Live on today in a comfortable home and drop some of that unecessary baggage at the curb and carry less than you did at your old home.

Inspired by "Bag Lady"- Erykah Badu

"Step Back and Look"

For some odd reason finding friends has been a task that hasn't always been easy for some. Finding real friends can be an even more difficult task, especially when it comes to girls.

Most find that a friend is someone whom they can trust, respect, and count on. Should that be so hard to find? Well, if it were easy then one would find it very hard to truly value someone that is a friend. Finding good friends has always been a hard task for me and to this day I will never understand why. I often would look on the site "Facebook" and see that many of the people that I attended high school may still be seen with the people that they were close to in high school. I can't really say that I've had that. It seemed as if with every school transition I had to go through a transition with so-called friends as well. It wasn't until later on that I realized that some of the people who I had been looking past were the ones that were my friends all along.

I can count these girls on less than two hands, and you know what? For once I don't see that as a problem. I find that these girls came through for me and sacrificed time for me just to simply see to it that I could have moments of accomplishment and happiness. I find that I didn't have to ever force a friendship with these girls, because it just happened so naturally. I always found that when I needed major things such as a ride to someplace at the last minute or a simple thing like just someone to go eat with, they were always there.

Now there were some girls that I did consider my friends but found that even they had flown out of my life after some time. But I remember something that one lady had told me once before. She said that God sends us people for certain seasons and with every passing season, God will send us new people to be our friends. Well, I feel that God was taking me through these seasons of people so that I would have the chance to simply step back and take a look at who my real girls were. He took me to my high points and I saw who celebrated with me and He took me to some low points so that I could see who would hold my hand and pull me back up. He took me through some happy times to show me who would laugh with me and He took me through some sad times to show me who would wipe my tears away. Though these girls are a small number they leave an infinity amount of love and friendship in my heart and a lasting trail of footprints of smiles.

I love these girls, they know who they are. And I'm so happy that God has lead me to the end of my search of true girlfriends.

For:
Niska, Naja, Brittany J. and Carmen aka Catie

"Flawless Mistakes"

There are times in life when some of our biggest mistakes, mishaps, and falls really show us the type of person that we are. Each day, we all make some sort of mistake and have to decide how we face it. Do we hold our heads down in shame and fear what others will think? Do we run away from it and act as if nothing happened? Or do we merely just take it as it is and learn from it?

Well, for most of us, when we have a mistake that we make, we tend to just apologize for it and move on. But sometimes I wonder if we should always apologize for our mistakes. Just because we fall does that mean that we hurt someone else? Does it necessarily mean that we owe someone an explanation? I don't think so.

Mistakes are sometimes given a bad reputation and are rarely ever seen as beneficial. There are times when a mistake must be made in order for each of us to learn something new and to learn more about our character. I don't think that all mistakes are bad. Some are just little stepping stones that we stumble over that in the end allow us to pick ourselves up and climb to the highest mountains of our best characters.

Inspired By: My "Flawless" Performance as Amerie :)

"Inner Death For An Outer Resurrection"

There are times in life where we must all make a change. We must step outside of ourselves and see the world for what it is, see things for what they really are, and see that we have to sometimes change in order to live a better life.

As I look at the lives of some of our people in the world, I realize that some of them just don't want to change. Some of them are arrogant, deceitful, cold-hearted, liars, murderers, and just plain bad people. But I'm a firm believer that even in the most terrible of people, there is still some good in them that the right person just has to bring out in the right situation.

Some people feel that because of their bad situations, reputations, and past they are simply destined to be the way that they are and be complacent with the way things in this world are. The tend to call that "living in reality." They tend to say "well, this is just how I am." Well, I think they need to wake up themselves and realize that reality changes every single day and that they need to kill that mentality so that they can live for a better tomorrow.

I'm sure that when President Obama decided to run for President, he knew what reality was telling him. He knew that the reality was that this country did not want to see a black man lead it. He knew that reality was telling him that this was a white man's world and he was just another black man living in it. He knew that reality was telling him that every step along the way he was going to fall because this country would never let him get as far as he did. But look at what happened. He killed reality. He killed reality's doubts. He killed reality's sayings. He killed reality in order for this country to see an outer resurrection.

Now I know that that situation may seem to be more of an extreme case for some people. But the truth of the matter is that sometimes in order for us to make it through life, we have to kill ourselves from the inside in order to see the essence of our lives and be able to adapt to it. Sometimes we can be so stubborn to the point where we feel nothing but ourselves and how selfish is that? Sometimes we don't want anyone to tell us that we need to make changes about ourselves in order to make it further in life. But the truth of the matter is that we have to listen to those people that really care about us and can really teach us something. It doesn't matter who the messenger is. It can be a child, it can be an adult, it can be a book, it can be a word. The point is that we as people have to humble enough to realize that reality can change and reality doesn't have to set us in our ways.

There is a time for every season and we have to learn how to live in that season, but know that someday that season has to end and changes have to made. In order for a new life to begin, a death must occur.

"ELECTION DAY...AND ALL MY THOUGHTS THAT COME WITH IT"

OMG!!!! Today has got to be one of the biggest days in the history of life itself!!! We are sooo close to having a Black President!!!! I'm so excited right now it's ridiculous!!! Well, since this is history in the making, I figured I would post the action up right now as if you were walking beside me right now in the comfort of my dorm room. So sit back, relax, and let's make history!!!!

OK right now it's 207 (Obama) and 138 (McCain)...well, of course Obama is in the lead!!! I was so excited today to hear and see so many students around here going to exercise their right to vote. It made me feel so good. Part of me actually wished that I had waited until today to vote lol. Well, at least I went and voted so technically I'm still apart of history :). I just can't get over the fact that we are sooo close to the end. This is the dream that MLK had wanted and spoke of sooo much.

Oh NOOO!!!! It's 10:44pm and now it's 207 (Obama) and 143(McCain)!!!! I can't believe this. I swear Obama needs to pull this one out for real. Who could have imagined that something like this would be happening? I'm still so excited about this election. All I keep hearing is YES WE CAN!!!! And fyi, I feel that if when Obama wins, that slogan should become YEAH WE DID!!!! lol. Just remember that before Diddy or Jay-Z come out with t-shirts that say that, you heard it from me first at "The Voice Within."

I actually want to go and get me a frickin' sandwich from the cafe right now, but I promise you I can't pull my eyes away from this screen. OMG did I just hear the tv say that Obama will get well over 270 votes, making him the 44th President of the United States of America??? I better had heard that because I know I'm not deaf lol. This is still one of the most exciting things I've ever seen. I can't believe I'm witnessing history in the making. I'll be able to read about this event in history books and I'll be able to tell my children that I was there when all this happened. Not to mention the fact that I was right in the midst of the crowd when Obama came to the field across from my dorm and spoke before us!!! That was really exciting as well. I got some good video footage of that and everything :). I'm such a broadcast journalist lol.

Argh!!!! I'm so tired of seeing all these splashes of red on the map of electoral results!!! Why is it that the southern states with the most racist people are on McCain's side? Gee, I wonder why? lol. Oh well, that doesn't mean they have that much power because they're not even worth that many electoral votes.

Aside from the Presidential part, I know that the legal marijuana was up for the vote today as well. Well, I voted no on it, because I know that "y'all" will try and get the homeboy with the weed prescription to get it for the 'rellos for the night lol. Thats a shame. I voted yes on for the stem cell research though. I feel that people can definitely benefit from that so much more.

Why are these two reporters wearing red ties? Are they trying to represent McCain on the low? lol. Some supporters. Although I could be wrong lol. They could be for Obama.

IT IS 11PM ON THE DOT...AND OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!! HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE!!!! YES WE DID IT!!!! GOD IS TOO GOOD!!!!! IT'S OVER!!!! CHANGE IS HERE!!!! PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!! AIN'T NO STOPPING US NOW!!!! THEY SAID WE WOULD NEVER MAKE IT TO THE WHITE HOUSE!!!! YES WE CAN AND YES WE DID!!!!!!

FINAL SCORE....OBAMA(384+) MCCAIN(174). THE VOTES HAVE SAID IT. LET'S GO OUT AND CELEBRATE. THIS IS ASHLEIGH J. AKA BETTY PAGE MONROE SIGNING OFF!!!

Can't You Just Stand On Your Own???

So I have come to the conclusion that there are just far too many girls that I know that feel that they need a man in order to live their lives. A man just has to be there in order for them to go about their daily lives and such a cycle wouldn't be complete without them throwing this up in everyone's face. I swear I just laugh at this everytime I see it and hear about it for myself.

I mean, what ever happened to the strong black women that we should all strive to be? Since when was it a man's job to assure us of ourselves? Since when did it become an obligation for a man to tell us who we are and where we need to be in life? Since when did someone make a law saying that a man is the determiner of all things woman? Last time I checked this was...ummm....NEVER!!!!! I just don't understand how all this is coming about and where this is coming from.

When Destiny's Child came out with that song "Independent Women" I thought that that would be every woman's anthem and at that point it was. But I guess it was only a matter of time before that trend faded like a pair of 70's bell bottoms. But that is just crazy to me. It seems that now more than ever so many of our women are allowing men to validate them, especially females of my generation. I mean, I know one girl who was with a guy off and on for a minute. But the problem was that this guy put his hands on her and she allowed it. I swear I couldn't be in that situation cuz that fool would definitely be dead as a door nail. Then he comes back with the whole "baby I've changed" story. PLEASE!!!! Save me the drama. This girl is obviously dumb and needs her head examined. Or better yet, maybe she needs to get a clue and realize that you need to stand on your own two feet before you get into a relationship. Not only does this girl sleep with everything on two legs after only knowing it for less than 24 hours but she then expects those same guys to be in a relationship with her and respect her after the fact. NICE TRY HO!!!!

Then what's up with this whole trend of every girl wanting to get pregnant so fast? Girl, you dropped outta school for some old guy who gets you pregnant after only knowing you for so long? What kinda sh** is that??? If a man loves you, shouldn't he be trying to do what's best for you? Shouldn't he be supporting you in achieving a good education so that you wouldn't just be another silly dumb biotch on the street? Last time I checked, that was the case. But hey such is life.

I want to also give a shout out to my reunited sister Lucky Laura!!!! I love you sis and I"m so glad that we finally united again and I'm looking forward to you moving up here in East Lansing with me and hopefully we can start that video blog reality show together. Us models have to look out for one another lol. Plus we are both sweethearts and I'm sure both our lives combined will make us the new "Stallionaires" lol. MUAH!!!

Well, that's about all that I wanted to say today. Tune in on the next blog entry in the wonderful life of Ashleigh J.